Howdy from Clear Lake

It took 5 days of competition, but finally, the Bass Belt Boys have seen their first 10-pound West Coast largemouth of the year. NWWC' FOS (Friend of the Show) Byron Velvick hung a 10-11 donkey yesterday to kick things off down here in Clear Lake ... wait, check that. Make that A VERY COLD CLEAR LAKE!

31 degrees today at launch, which, for here = too damn cold.

We had a 50-degree temperature swing yesterday, from a high of 81 to a low of 31 last night. Needless to say, Clear Lake's largemouth aren't feelin' the love so much.

They will, and probaby by Saturday/Sunday. Guys are seeing big fish up shallow, but they haven't really been able to get them to react to anything yet.

Check out all my reports on Bassmaster.com. I have a new story up this morning about Jared Lintner, and his efforts to recover his tournament form after his crash last week leaving the Delta.

I'm rooting for Lintner (partly because he and Paul Hall are identical twins seperated at birth).

Here's how it starts:

GEAR BANGING - Lintner juggling gear, along with Clear Lake largemouth

LAKEPORT, Calif. — Finally, after 120 hours of being "Jared Lintner, News Story", Jared Lintner got back to being "Jared Lintner, Bass Fisherman." Except, after the traffic accident that caused him to be "News Story", it wasn't quite as easy being "Bass Fisherman".

As we've documented on Bassmaster.com, Lintner is just five days removed from a traffic accident that left his boat, motor, trailer, tow rig and fishing gear scattered along the side of a ditch on I-5 north of Stockton, Ca. Lintner spent most of Saturday afternoon, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week in a DefCon 4 scramble to find a replacement boat and truck, and to locate, inventory and sort through a tangled mess of fishing tackle.

James OverstreetLintner bagged 23 pounds, 4 ounces and settled into second place behind Byron Velvick (29-0) heading into Day Two.

Thursday afternoon, he was thankfully standing on a trolling motor, casting swimbaits and competing in Day One of the Golden State Shootout on Clear Lake. As he was doing that, though, he found himself constantly rifling through the compartments of his borrowed boat, looking for needed items.

Like a Band-Aid.

"I have a whole bag with dippin' dyes, marker pens and little stuff like that," Lintner said Thursday night. "Today, in that bag, wherever it's at, I could've used a Band-Aid. I caught a fish at some point, grabbed it and somehow sliced my finger wide open. No Band-Aid. Here I am with this little towel I happened to throw in the boat last night, tied around my finger to stop the bleeding."

Read the rest of the story here.

Other quick notes/observations:

1. Rick Clunn, 0-00? REALLY? Yes, really. The Jedi Master didn't weigh in a fish yesterday. I pray he does today, otherwise, I'll have to ask him about it. And, trust me, you do NOT want to be inside the Force Field when he goes all Jedi Master on you.

2.  Hackney's "interesting" swimbait: Greg Hackney told me early this week that he knew "enough about swimbaits to be dangerous to myself". He had one tied on this morning, though, and it was ... eh ... INTERESTING. Custom made by Art Berry, this thing is a piece of work. I'm going to wait and see if he catches anything on it before I reveal what it is.

3. The Unstoppable Guy Eaker: 71 years old and in fifth place with 21-4. Guy caught a 14-1 last week in practice for the Delta. Nice ol' Southern gentleman.

4. Bigger bags ahead?: Maybe. There was a flurry bite first thing this a.m., but I haven't heard much since. I have a feeling though ...

More later.

JS